Liverpool and Manchester are reportedly considering a joint bid for the 2040 Olympics. The idea was first mooted by the Heseltine Institute, but it is now being discussed at political level, and has now been given the backing of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool Council Leader Liam Robinson.
Hosting the Olympics would bring regeneration on a vast scale to the region, from major transport and infrastructure upgrades to a significant rise in house and infrastructure building and the wholesale reshaping of many areas.
How far has the idea progressed?
Former Liverpool mayoral candidate and journalist Liam Fogarty has been commissioned to assess what a two-city bid would require, including potential venues, transport requirements, land availability and the feasibility of hosting across two different locations.
London 2012
To understand the scale of development that comes with hosting the Games, you only have to look at what happened to East London in 2012. Analysis puts the total economic impact of the Olympic Games at £41 billion, with more than £7.3 billion of investment during the construction phase alone, in what was one of the most significant regeneration programmes the capital had ever seen.
Before
Beforehand, Stratford and the Lea Valley were among London’s most deprived and neglected areas – a mass of disused factories, contaminated land and polluted waterways. Transport connections were limited, and any investment was minimal.
The regeneration that followed, though, wasn’t random. A group of legacy and development bodies coordinated a long-term plan covering transport, land assembly and housing. The process began with opening up land that had been cut off for years, creating new pedestrian and road links across the Lea Valley, along with a new street pattern that would form the core of what became the Olympic Park.
During
Once work began, the scale of change became clear. More than 500 acres of industrial land were cleared and redesigned, with new streets, bridges, public spaces and serviced plots created for long-term use. Even the Athletes’ Village was designed with post-Games use built-in, which later became East Village, with 2,800 new homes.
Transport upgrades were delivered alongside the construction. Stratford Regional Station was expanded, new platforms and lines were added, and journey times into central London were cut significantly, opening up areas that had long been isolated from the wider network.
After
Once the Olympic Park was finished, the wider regeneration programme continued for years. There was further investment in Stratford City, Chobham Manor, Hackney Wick, Fish Island and into the wider Lea Valley, with new housing, streets and community infrastructure delivered in planned phases.
The Games’ effect on property
The rise in property values began well before the Games, as the scale of the regeneration programme became clear, but construction and investment continued long after 2012.
Nationwide’s figures show the uplift across six of the host boroughs between 2012 and 2021:
- Waltham Forest: +106%
- Barking & Dagenham: +86%
- Newham: +81%
- Hackney: +66%
- Greenwich: +66%
- Tower Hamlets: +63%
That’s compared to a UK average of +49% and a London average of +61%, with every Olympic borough outperforming them both and many by quite some distance.
What this could mean for Liverpool and Manchester
Liverpool and Manchester are far more advanced than East London was at the start of its Olympic cycle. Both cities already have major regeneration schemes underway. What they lack is anything on an Olympic scale or a single programme or body aligning transport upgrades, land release and housing delivery into one pan and one timetable.
The lesson from 2012 is that regeneration on this scale moves far faster when an overseeing body is in place to coordinate decisions, accelerate funding and clear long-standing bottlenecks. East London didn’t change simply because of investment; it changed because the Olympic framework forced everything onto the same track.
A similar framework in the North West would bring forward major development zones that already have clear potential but rely on transport upgrades to unlock it. These include North Liverpool, East Manchester, parts of Salford and districts facing the Wirral.
Large sections of the corridor between the two cities share many of the characteristics seen in pre-2012 East London: significant land availability, fragmented transport links and pent-up demand once connectivity improves.
Outlook
The IOC typically selects host cities seven to fourteen years before the Games, so the window for 2040 could open as soon as next year. However, formal bids are expected in the early-to-mid 2030s, with a final decision likely around 2034–2036. London could also enter the race, and Germany and Italy are also expected to compete.
If Liverpool and Manchester proceed, the decision is likely to be taken in the next one to two years. If they win, it could trigger a once-in-a-generation investment in housing and infrastructure across the entire region.
